Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and this Bill. I thank Senators Bacik and Power for the work they have done in this area. Some people get frustrated at times with how long it takes to get legislation passed. I remember starting the campaign to abolish the status of illegitimacy back in 1980, which is before many of the people here this evening were born and even the Minister, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, would not remember that far back. I recall organising and being involved in that campaign, including collecting signatures on the street. In that case the child of parents who were not married did not have any rights to the father's estate. We believed it would take us ten years to change the law in that area, but we got it through in seven years. It still took seven years, so the fact that Senator Power and Senator Bacik have got to this Stage and have put the legislation on the books for the Government to deal with in a period of 18 months is an achievement. I hope it will not be long before this legislation is enacted.

It is a welcome Bill. It is about balance. My colleague referred to speech by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, on the last occasion. It is interesting to refer back to that speech and look at a quote from the court on that matter. The Minister referred to the McGrath and O Ruairc case in 1979 and quoted Judge Henchy who said:

Far from eschewing the internal disabilities and discriminations which flow from the tenets of a particular religion, the State must on occasion recognise and buttress them. For such disabilities and discrimination do not derive from the State; it cannot be said that it is the State that imposed or made them; they are part of the texture and essence of the particular religion; so the State, in order to comply with the spirit and purpose inherent in this constitutional guarantee, may justifiably lend its weight to what may be thought to be disabilities and discriminations deriving from within a particular religion.

That was the thinking in the courts in 1979. We have moved a long way from that, but we must also bring people with us in bringing about change.

This legislation is about bringing people with us. I agree with the Minister of State and I know people involved in this process may be disappointed that the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Education and Skills are anxious that the new authority, the Irish human rights and equality commission, should be involved in moving this forward. Public consultation is important in bringing people along and having them accept the necessary change. The changes set out in the Bill are necessary and important but it is also important for people to come with us in making that change, accepting that we have moved on as a society and that this is for the betterment of everybody.

The State has a compelling human rights interest in eradicating discrimination based on social prejudice, which is what this Bill does. We must move forward and give the necessary guarantees which do not yet exist. I thank Senator Bacik for bringing forward this legislation and I thank the people who have worked with her on the Bill. I thank the Minister of State for her contribution today. She has gone back 17 years in raising these issues.

It is time for change and the Bill is setting out the required changes, while at the same time providing balance, which is also important. I support the Bill and I hope it will not be too long before we go to the next Stage and deliver it to the Dáil and then to the President for signature. All the contributors have made very constructive comments and I am fully supportive of this piece of legislation.